Despite the league marketing him as the new messiah and all the help he gets from officials, can Durant lead his team to the promised land?

BaadMaster

05/21/2014 - 10:31 PM PST

Clipper All-Star

Posts: 1270

Location: Los Angeles

votes: 11

Honestly, not sure. Spurs already got to the Finals last year so they are battle-tested and only lost by a couple pf missed free throws.

One thing for sure...refs can only save you in close games. Now we know that going in, so we know how to win it all next year.

KD's Mom is now on phone with Tony Brothers trying to fix (literally) this series, now down 0-2..

Tony: "I can try Mrs. Durant, but this is going to be difficult."

Mrs. Durant: "Tony, you did it before, you can do it again. You're the best."

Tony: "I'll give it my best."

gman

05/21/2014 - 10:44 PM PST

CTB MVP X1

Posts: 2750

votes: 6

Don't you mean the NBA is making the call now for the real #mvp Mr reliable himself??

BaadMaster

05/21/2014 - 11:03 PM PST

Clipper All-Star

Posts: 1270

Location: Los Angeles

votes: 11

They are, right now, trying to figure out how you can foul out the Spurs starters in the first quarter. In the words of every James Bond movie...

Adam Silver: "Fouling out a whole team is impossible." Head of Officials: "Difficult...not impossible."

worm

05/21/2014 - 11:05 PM PST

Clipper All-Star

Posts: 1235

votes: 3

Yes Clippers- Spurs is a better series, this series lost the excitement a boring game.

CP3Best

05/21/2014 - 11:06 PM PST

CTB MVP X2

Posts: 5064

votes: 13

Spurs are stopping dribble penetration, something that we could not do, they're forcing KD and Russ into contested pull ups. That's just good defense, not even in the bonus in the 2nd qtr.

cashdld

05/21/2014 - 11:29 PM PST

Clipper Starter

Posts: 517

votes: 4

Well they do have good we athletic wing defender in green and leonard

Agent0

05/21/2014 - 11:36 PM PST

CTB MVP X2

Posts: 5722

votes: 52

They had Danny Green guarding him a lot, but if Westbrook got top of the key iso's he was still able to get to the basket. Ibaka is a pressure release. If you run high pick and roll with Westbrook and Perkins, you bring one big out of the paint, and Ibaka brings another out because he hits close to 50% on his mid-range jumper, and if left open, he'll hit 6/10 of those in a game. So Ibaka doesn't just have value to their defense, he has value to their offense. With no Ibaka, a team like the Spurs is very willing to play contain on defense.

They were directing Westbrook into the pick setter's defender and trying to cut off the angle for the pick and roll pass. They were basically leaving open space for him to take mid-range jumpers, but using length or help to contest those jumpers. If they had Ibaka, that either sucks out a defender, or they pay with Ibaka hitting mid-range jumpers at a high rate.

Thunder also only shot 10 FT's, and Westbrook zero. Westbrook had a good amount of rim attacks actually that if it was the Clippers series, he would probably have drawn a foul. I'd say if it was our series he would have shot about 9 FT's in this game. Which would also be about 4 less missed shots and an and 1 for him.

bballman

05/22/2014 - 12:04 AM PST

Clipper Starter

Posts: 314

votes: 2

not favorable,just fair.

JQuick32

05/22/2014 - 12:04 AM PST

Posts: 3385

votes: 13

Spurs own us, especially CP3. They would beat us, but I doubt we'd get thoroughly humiliated like OKC has been.

ClipperKyle32

05/22/2014 - 05:49 AM PST

CTB MVP X1

Posts: 3322

votes: 27

I think we had a chance of beating the Spurs. They are just a machine and play fluent basketball. I really hope Chris improves his game into a tony parker like game. Tony can assist....

they not stopping the penetration, but they are doing a good job packing the paint with big bodys to make life difficult for WB, problem in our series the paint was wide open every time WB drove to the basket

A7XDreamTheaterClipps

05/22/2014 - 07:58 AM PST

Clipper Starter

Posts: 736

votes: 5

Wow. This series is garbage. Clippers would've at least put up a fight.

ClipperPostman

05/22/2014 - 10:13 AM PST

Clipper All-Star

Posts: 2363

votes: 24

I won't act like this ass whooping doesn't have anything to do with Ibaka being out. His interior defense is superb, and that mid range jumper is the reason the lane is open for kd and Westbrook.

Although the spurs are not getting the touch fouls we were. Makes one wonder how far clippers make it with fair officiating.

Icecoldclipper

05/22/2014 - 10:25 AM PST

CTB MVP X2

Posts: 9570

votes: 21

They have no third option so its killing them. I know we choked game 5 and quit in 6 but damn ibaka hitting his jumper against us even cost us a game.

jarca

05/22/2014 - 11:11 AM PST

CTB MVP X2

Posts: 8653

votes: 39

That's the result you'll get when you gift wrapped a team to the WCF and your best player is ref and media made MVP

BaadMaster

05/22/2014 - 09:02 PM PST

Clipper All-Star

Posts: 1270

Location: Los Angeles

votes: 11

And why was that? The refs had DJ tied up in knots, afraid that any defensive move would result in fouls. If they let DJ play, we would be watching Clips vs. Spurs. And the Thunder aren't getting the calls this series so they are folding.

I must admit, though, that these Spurs, dull as they are, look more like robots than humans. Kind of like Arnold in Terminator 2, they look invincible. As of now, Spurs look like a lock to win it all.

Agent0

05/22/2014 - 10:30 PM PST

CTB MVP X2

Posts: 5722

votes: 52

Parker is not more effective and has not been more effective in the playoffs than Paul individually, but they are also different style players. You can achieve similar of better efficacy with different styles. I don't think he needs to try to be like Parker any more than Parker needs to try to be like him.

Part of why SA took as long as they did to beat Dallas was that from game 2-5, Parker was not that good.

Game 2: 10 FGA / 12 pts / 3 tov

Game 3: 18 FGA / 19 pts / 4 tov

Game 4: 14 FGA / 10 pts / 4 tov

Game 5: 23 FGA / 23 pts / 1 tov

Game 6: 23 FGA / 22 pts / 5 tov

Avg: 17.6 FGA / 17.2 PPG / 3.4 tov / 4.6 ast / .463 TS%

Parker basically had 2 good games in the series and was bad in the middle 5 games, which is part of why they went 2-3 in those games and why Dallas was close enough in the games to have a chance to win in the first place. More FGA than pts scored, and 1.2 more APG than turnovers (22 assists and 17 turnovers) is never good for any player, but more so for a PG.

In this series, OKC doesn't have a mobile enough pick and roll big man to contain him. Ibaka was that guy, so he's able to easily turn the corner on Perkins. Also the Spurs space the floor well enough where OKC is a bit tentative in collapsing too quickly and giving up open shots. He did very well against Portland (game 1-4, game 5 is irrelevant), but didn't do anything better than CP did vs a much better defensive OKC team (with Ibaka of course), and it isn't like he produced better either. Of course, we could also see adjustments by OKC that change things in the coming games, its never over 3 games into a series.

Parker's ability to get in the paint is great, but don't be fooled into thinking he can just easily turn the corner and waltz into the paint and score effectively against good defenses or against good game plans and be an effective scorer all the time.

BaadMaster

05/23/2014 - 03:56 AM PST

Clipper All-Star

Posts: 1270

Location: Los Angeles

votes: 11

What I don't get is how San Antonio finds these guys.

Splitter? Twenty-eighth pick from some other team I think. Leonard? Drafted late by another team. Parker. Second round? Manu. Another second rounder.

They must have some magic potion that takes bums and makes them stars. Maybe they are just holograms. They sure play like 'em.

And even with that magic potion, the Spurs haven't won a title in quite some time. So, Clippers fans -- stop acting like Lakers fans. Have some patience.

Likely this Clippers squad, after DTS is gone, will get to the Finals.

Dunkathon

05/23/2014 - 04:49 AM PST

Clipper All-Star

Posts: 1444

votes: 11

Parker was actually selected 28th, just like Splitter. Manu was literally the second to last guy picked in his draft year. Leonard was drafted by the Pacers, but they traded him to the Spurs for George Hill.

The magic potion, BTW, is one Gregg Popovich.

ClipperKyle32

05/25/2014 - 07:32 PM PST

CTB MVP X1

Posts: 3322

votes: 27

Thunder is still winning this series!!!!! Ibaka gonna make this amazing comeback. They are going to come back and win

JQuick32

05/25/2014 - 09:20 PM PST

Posts: 3385

votes: 13

I actually hope they do so LeBron can collect ring #3 without even breaking a sweat.

jarca

05/25/2014 - 09:32 PM PST

CTB MVP X2

Posts: 8653

votes: 39

Free throw discrepancy so far OKC 28 Spurs 7 lol the only way OKC can win

Dunkathon

05/25/2014 - 09:54 PM PST

Clipper All-Star

Posts: 1444

votes: 11

You don't honestly want the Thunder to win, do you? I don't know how anyone can stand rooting for that team with all the ref bias they get.

clipper*joe

05/25/2014 - 10:04 PM PST

CTB MVP Champion

Posts: 16362

Location: los angeles

votes: 129

Does anyone think this will turn out like the year the Thunder beat the Spurs to go to the finals? The Spurs win the first two and then get swept? I hope not. Hate to see them go again. I want the Spurs to win it all.

ClipperKyle32

05/25/2014 - 10:19 PM PST

CTB MVP X1

Posts: 3322

votes: 27

I don't want them to , but I think they will. I have said in the past. I believe OKC makes it to the Finals, KD vs LeBron, KD takes the MvP crown and now....

Ref waits for ball to go on and then calls a whistle, negating our 3...huge momentum play tbh..

I can't post the image because I don't have enough posts. Oh well.

ClipperKyle32

05/25/2014 - 11:07 PM PST

CTB MVP X1

Posts: 3322

votes: 27

I assume you are a Spurs fan. Now do you see what the Clipper had to deal with for a series

Dunkathon

05/25/2014 - 11:23 PM PST

Clipper All-Star

Posts: 1444

votes: 11

If the Thunder get to the Finals, Lebron will have no trouble 3-peating.

ClipperKyle32

05/26/2014 - 12:06 AM PST

CTB MVP X1

Posts: 3322

votes: 27

Miami is not good enough to win 5-8 if they prove me wrong. I will eat my words. But if the Thunder have officiating in their favor like against us. They will win it all. Its what the league wants

dmvp29

05/26/2014 - 12:50 AM PST

Clipper D-League Pickup

Posts: 39

votes: 0

Oh, absolutely. I actually came here after game 5 and said you guys were totally robbed. OKC is a fraud of a team that gets more ref help than any other team in recent memory. It should've been Spurs/Clippers for an exciting, closely matched WCF. Instead we get this ****...

OKC's not even competitive with Miami. It'd be a travesty if they reffed their way into the finals like they did in 2012.

ClipperKyle32

05/26/2014 - 09:46 AM PST

CTB MVP X1

Posts: 3322

votes: 27

^^^^^ I like this guy. Just like their franchise, I respect a whole lot of their fans... Unlike OKC

JQuick32

05/26/2014 - 10:21 AM PST

Posts: 3385

votes: 13

Miami won 5-on-8 last year.

pageC4

05/26/2014 - 01:49 PM PST

CTB MVP X1

Posts: 4789

votes: 24

I want the Thunder or Indiana to win it all. The last thing that I want to see is another Miami vs. San Antonio matchup. Can you imagine how obnoxious the bandwagon would get if the heat won another chip? Or how much of a douche Skip Bayless and all of ESPN will be if the Spurs win it?

Dunkathon

05/26/2014 - 03:11 PM PST

Clipper All-Star

Posts: 1444

votes: 11

How anyone can root for the Thunder with all the ref help they get is beyond me. You say ESPN will be suck if the Spurs win, but they'll be absolutely intolerable for months if the Thunder win it all. They'll talk about how Durant is the new Lebron, and how this is the start of his greatness despite him getting 10+ freethrows a game from the refs.

I want Duncan to get ring #5 personally, at the expense of all 3 remaining teams.

FightOnRon

05/26/2014 - 03:11 PM PST

CTB MVP X2

Posts: 5134

Location: The Darkside

votes: 39

Yup,you guys got to play the OKC-8 last night. Tough to beat that team.

FightOnRon

05/26/2014 - 03:15 PM PST

CTB MVP X2

Posts: 5134

Location: The Darkside

votes: 39

How anyone can root for the Thunder with all the ref help they get is beyond me. You say ESPN will be suck if the Spurs win, but they'll be absolutely intolerable for months if the Thunder win it all. They'll talk about how Durant is the new Lebron, and how this is the start of his greatness despite him getting 10+ freethrows a game from the refs.
I want Duncan to get ring #5 personally, at the expense of all 3 remaining teams.

The Spurs were always my backup team. The problem the NBA is having....

How anyone can root for the Thunder with all the ref help they get is beyond me. You say ESPN will be suck if the Spurs win, but they'll be absolutely intolerable for months if the Thunder win it all. They'll talk about how Durant is the new Lebron, and how this is the start of his greatness despite him getting 10+ freethrows a game from the refs.
I want Duncan to get ring #5 personally, at the expense of all 3 remaining teams.

As a fan of the underdog I believe that that the Spurs or Miami winning the chip is bad for the sport. Despite how many people are mad at the the Thunder there is a real cinderella story to their rise to this point. No ESPN "decision," no controversial "Gasol" robbery trades...just smart drafting.
Also, OKC is a small market with a young fan base. Contrast that to the huge fan bases that the Spurs and Heat have for their combined 7+ championships. Despite personal hatred towards the Thunder the NBA is best served with them or....

I agree with the Heat having a huge bandwagon fanbase now, but the Spurs? They're a small market, just like OKC. There's a reason people say the Spurs are "boring", and that's because many people actually do find their style of play boring for whatever reason.
Also, I don't want the Thunder to EVER win a championship again until that thief Clay Bennett returns the team to Seattle, where it rightfully belongs.

They find the Spurs boring because they don't showboat (much). They play fundamentally sound basketball and do not revert to tricks (or crying to....

Cinderalla is a term given to a team that exceeds expectations, one that isn't the consensus pick to win it all, such as the Spurs of Heat. Despite Ibaka and your feelings about him the Thunder are a great team, they deserve to win it. The options at this point are to give the Spurs another chip or the Heat another chip. You do realize that the Spurs are #4 in total ring count don't you? Also, the heat are tied for #5 in total ring count with detroit and would match San Antonio with 4. If you want another predicatable, boring champion have at it. I want the underdog to win and would love OKC or Indiana to win it. The best thing for the league at this moment is the Thunder of Pacers to win it all

Dunkathon

05/26/2014 - 05:09 PM PST

Clipper All-Star

Posts: 1444

votes: 11

You know there are still plenty of people who picked the Thunder to win it all, right? Even the people who didn't pick them to win it all picked them to reach the WCF at the very least. The Pacers were also picked to reach the ECF at the very least (although that's more because the Eastern Conference is such a turd right now). What you fail to understand is that there aren't any Cinderellas at this point. All the teams currently around were picked as championship contenders before the season even began.

Yeah, the Spurs are #4 in total ring count, but it's the way they play together that makes me want them to win it all. They play smart basketball, work together, and actually have a sense of class. They don't have huge egos (all the other three teams), they don't rely on the officials to win anything (OKC), they don't have terrible chemistry (the Pacers), and they don't have preening superstars who complain after every single call (all the other three teams).

You say you don't want a predictable, boring champion, but nothing is more boring than what the NBA and you wants, which is a Thunder-Heat NBA Finals. The WORST thing for the league at this moment would be for a team run by thieves (AKA the Thunder) to win it all. If it ends up being Thunder-Heat, I will root for the Heat with all my heart. Yes, I wouldn't like Lebron 3-peating, but for all the Heat's faults, they at least learned to truly play as a team post-2011 Finals loss. A Thunder or Pacers win would be a victory for superstar "me, me and only me" ball.

On the contrary, the BEST thing for the league is for a truly selfless, small market team like the Spurs to win it all. Yeah, they won four rings, but they won it with class, dignity, and honor. That way of winning should be rewarded this season.

pageC4

05/26/2014 - 05:44 PM PST

CTB MVP X1

Posts: 4789

votes: 24

I sincerely doubt the Thunder have gotten to where they are at by having some kind of love affair with the officials. They have been to the finals before, and if not for a Westbrook injury last year they probably could have done it again. The Thunder are where they are at because they have the leagues MVP, two really great defenders in Ibaka and Perkins, and the best 2nd option a superstar can ask for in Westbrook. Not to mention a great ability to groom and develop players like Jackson, Adams, and countless others.

Perhaps the spurs have a quieter, likable bunch...but they have done it before and frankly the NBA doesn't need more of it. The Thunder may have not been a surprise team to be where they are, but believe me they are far from the "favorites" of the NBA to win it all. The consensus to win it all by the majority of networks were the Heat followed by the Spurs. Of the remaining teams the Thunder and Pacers are quite frankly the ones being written off.

But you do make a good point in that the Spurs do play good team ball with no egos and other things.

By the way I just dont get the Oklahoma hate. Ref bias for the Thunder is the equivalent of other teams hating us for being "floppers."

pageC4

05/26/2014 - 05:51 PM PST

CTB MVP X1

Posts: 4789

votes: 24

As a fan I love parity. It's what makes the sport great. I think what has killed the professional sports industry are big money teams, and in some cases you do have small market teams like the Green Bay Packers and San Antonio Spurs that despite being in a small market are juggernauts. There's nothing more I despise in sports to see the same old script. If the option comes between OKC and San Antonio I'm going to put my support behind the team that hasn't won it before, and in this case the Spurs are an empire. They just don't have any hateable players on that squad so people look at them as this group that deserves another win. I applaud their players and what they have done, but frankly their time should be up. Will it? I doubt it, but it would be nice to have 20 years of no Celtics, Lakers, Bulls, Spurs, and Heat.

Sometimes I put the personal characteristics of the players aside when parity comes into play and for me that is what this is about.

Dunkathon

05/26/2014 - 07:40 PM PST

Clipper All-Star

Posts: 1444

votes: 11

Undoubtedly, the Thunder are an incredibly talented team, but they're helped out further by the officials. They're a jumpshooting team, and yet the disparity between free throws was something like 22 to 7 last game. Part of that is because the Spurs don't play for the foul like many other teams in the league do, but another part of that is ref bias.

The only reason the Thunder were being written off was because Ibaka was injured. Now he's back, people are already saying the Thunder are back in the series despite them still being down 2 to 1. I will agree the Pacers have been written off, but that's for good reason, given the turmoil they've gone through over the past weeks.

I "sports-hate" Durant and Westbrook for all the reasons I've mentioned already. Off the court, they seem like decent people. Durant's a great player. I just wish the NBA wasn't trying to build him up as the white knight to Lebron's black (if you get my drift).

My real hatred is for OKC's ownership, who lied to the city of Seattle when they said they were going to make a good faith effort to keep the team there, then proceeded to stab them in the back and run off with the team. For all the loathing I have for Durant, I will forever respect his opposition to the team being moved, and for still wearing Sonics gear occasionally.

BTW, I should clarify that I really hope the Pacers beat the Heat. I just don't think they'll be able to do it.

pageC4

05/26/2014 - 09:21 PM PST

CTB MVP X1

Posts: 4789

votes: 24

Part of that free throw discrepancy comes from Kevin Durants ability to swing those long arms and get contact. he's got a different body type than anyone else. i don't think they have some deal with the refs per se, just that that lanky body of his makes contact with a defenders arms so naturally they are going to get calls.

also, i hate to see seattle lose their team...that sucks. i can imagine how people from that area must feel after losing their team. still sometimes good things come from bad developments. when KD was drafted for the Sonics it was the beginning of a something special. the thunder tried doing something that had all but been abandoned, and said was imposible by many, they built from within. i liked the approach they took and it is testament that one can compete with smart drafting. in many ways they are built similarly like the spurs. spurs also went against big free agent acquisiions...aka the Laker route.

Dunkathon

05/27/2014 - 02:34 AM PST

Clipper All-Star

Posts: 1444

votes: 11

Unfortunately, part of the reason teams like the Thunder and Spurs do the smart drafting and "build from within" strategy is because they don't have much in the way of other choices. Few, if any, free agents are willing to move to somewhere like Oklahoma City, San Antonio, or even Seattle. You have no choice but to build from within. That's part of the reason why many small market teams like my Blazers struggle during down years because they have to build through the draft and smart trades for role players. For example, we got Thomas Robinson and Robin Lopez from Houston and New Orleans by being opportunistic and seeing opportunities when other teams wanted big name players (Dwight Howard and Tyreke Evans respectively). Both those players ended up being huge contributions to our playoff run this year, and they're both young, so they'll likely get better with time.

BaadMaster

05/27/2014 - 03:42 AM PST

Clipper All-Star

Posts: 1270

Location: Los Angeles

votes: 11

If the "Nut Puncher" were suspended like he should have been,we would be facing the Spurs. Believe me, if it were BG who punched the nut, he would have been suspended. Simple as that.

ClipperKyle32

05/28/2014 - 09:20 AM PST

CTB MVP X1

Posts: 3322

votes: 27

WoW! I have been saying OKC wins this series. I knew Ibaka was going to make this miraculous comeback.
Guys I am now really happy. I am seeing what The Clippers did well over shines what....